Germany's Maas Vows To Closely Watch Navalny Trial, Discuss Reaction In Council Of Europe

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th January, 2021) German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Tuesday that Berlin intended to closely monitor the trial of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny and further address the issue at the Council of Europe.

Maas said, speaking at the winter plenary session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, that in the coming weeks, Germany would be closely following the legal proceedings, which would determine Navalny's future.

On Saturday, protests broke out in several cities throughout Russia in support of Navalny, who was detained upon arrival in Moscow from Germany. Navalny had undergone treatment in Germany for allegedly being poisoned with a nerve agent.

A Moscow court ruled to keep the Russian politician in detention for 30 days for violating his probation terms for an earlier embezzlement conviction. The court is expected to decide on Friday whether Navalny's suspended sentence should be replaced with a prison term for breach of suspension terms.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has warned against foreign meddling in the case. Commenting on the West's repeated calls for Navalny's release, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called the chorus an attempt to shift attention from the ongoing crisis of the liberal model of development.